Thelema's lively, all admire, Her charms, but she's too full of fire; Impatience ever racks her breast, Her heart a stranger is to rest. A jocund youth of bulky size; This nymph beheld with tender eyes, From hers his humor differed quite, Black does not differ more from white. (Voltaire)

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What does marriage really mean today? Ask the people who claim the label. It’s different for every family.

Man has the right to live by his own law.

Individual people make marriage contracts with each other. The purpose of the agreement might be toward the end of raising children, or of domestic economics, or romantic love, or religious sacrament, or meeting naturalization requirements, or hospital visitation rights, or formalizing the bonds of kinship, or many other things, or some combination of these, or none of them. The state oversees and enforces these contracts, but it has no business dictating how these contracts should be written, defined, or what classes of people may engage in them, except to prevent enslavement. There shall be no property in human flesh.

At the same time, while marriage should only be a matter between those who are married, this means that other organizations would not be required to observe or respect the terms of your marriage. Other communities of people, churches, and so on, would be equally free to have their own traditions respecting marriage; to live by their own law. Your right to live by your own law extends also to those who would not recognize your marriage in living by theirs. The Ecclesia Gnostica Catholica may recognize and celebrate same-sex marriages, but the Roman Catholic Church would not be required to confer benefits to the same-sex spouses of its employees. In his “Considerations of an Open Letter to Labour,” he explains further that religious freedom shall also be absolute so long as they do not unduly influence people:

“Religious propaganda, social movements, political agitations, shall be only permitted on proof that their principles are not repugnant to individual liberty as provided by the Law of Thelema.

“The practice of all religions shall be permitted, but the use of Supernatural threats or promises to influence the will of another person unduly shall be held fraud and duress in the one, punishable with imprisonment, and in the other self-disrespect, demanding a course of treatment in a State Asylum for training the Will and developing the sense of self-hood.”

The redefinition of marriage will naturally raise a lot of questions about benefits. All this must be reevaluated in the light of the sovereignty of the individual. No longer would marriage confer tax benefits designed to encourage procreation. The overhaul of existing laws would have to be extensive, far beyond the scope of this one blog post, as Crowley indicates in various places throughout his “Considerations of an Open Letter to Labour.” For a couple of examples:

“Repeal all laws which assume that mankind is a herd of cattle. State insurance, pauper laws, registrations, conscription.”

“All laws which assist men to obtain undue influence upon others must be repealed, e.g. the bankruptcy laws, the libel laws, and the divorce laws.”

Now that we have raised all kinds of huge questions about Aleister Crowley’s political vision for the future of our country and our children, we will change the subject to something funnier.